First Flight

Summary: As socially awkward Rosalind befriends a much older man at her workplace, she finds that traversing the lines between young and old, black and white, or friend and more becomes increasingly difficult.

Rosalind

The gallery seemed especially
quiet tonight as Rosalind settled herself near the painting she had been
assigned to guard. The early February weather outside was dreary and wet. She
figured that most people wouldn’t feel like spending their Friday night looking
at a bunch of local peoples’ artwork when they could be sitting in their comfy
beds instead.

Not that the
gallery itself was uncomfortable. It was certainly better looking than anything
she had visited back home, what with its cream-coloured walls and domed
ceilings and spacious rooms lined with mahogany floors that seemed to stretch
for miles. And she thought the art was nice enough for the most part, too. But
she sensed the hours would be unbearable tonight if this was the crowd—or lack
thereof—that would be at The Edwards.

She stared
into space for what felt like years, focusing in on the tiniest mistakes in the
paint coats on the walls. It wasn’t until she checked her wristwatch that
Rosalind confirmed she had only been working for thirty minutes, with another
three and a half hours to go. She sighed and started focusing on the patterns
in the floor, until she heard something.

“You’re a tall
one, aren’t you?”

The low and nasally voice with some unknown accent came from her
left, in the direction of the surrealism section. She turned to see a man
standing a few feet away near another painting. She didn’t know how she had
missed him this whole time. He looked to be the same height as her, and just as
skinny. He was too far away for her to make out any facial details, but he
certainly wasn’t a young man, as seen by his full head of greyish hair. There
was a lanky look to his six-foot-tall frame that reminded Rosalind of more than
a few fraternity boys she had seen on her college campus. This man didn’t seem
like he’d been the partying type in school, though. Yet there was something
that indicated that he wasn’t the shy and introverted type either. She
responded when she realized she had stared at him for too long.

“Oh, uh, yes, I’m surprised this shirt even fits me!” Rosalind
hadn’t spoken but a few words all day, so her voice come out much higher than
she had intended. She immediately felt her pale face turn a light shade of
pink.

“Well, we have
all shapes and sizes here, no need to worry.” The man let out a controlled
chuckle. “I’m Daniel, by the way. Is this your first night here…” His voice
trailed off.

“R-Rosalind.
And no, this is my third night here.” She felt herself speaking too fast and
she internally chastised herself.

“Ah, so you must
be an expert on the gallery by now?” The man named Daniel smiled at his own
quip, and she found herself smiling back. “You’re not from around here then?
Your accent betrays you.”

“No, I’m from
a small town in Virginia that you’ve probably never heard of.” Less words,
Rosalind thought, that’s the key.

“I’m sure I
haven’t. Where I’m from, you tend to think that the end all and be all of the
world is Brooklyn.” Another quip. Another round of smiles.

“Then what are
you doing here in Pennsylvania?” She started moving closer to Daniel so that
they could talk better. She was sure it would be okay to leave her post for a
few moments. She was more interested in this conversation than the painting she
was guarding anyway.

“Went to
college around this area and have lived here ever since,” he said. “It’s a nice
place, and it’s close enough to home that I can come and go pretty easily.” Now
that Rosalind was closer, she could tell that this man had to be around her
father’s age, as evidenced by his creased forehead and skin that seemed to sag
from his eyes and cheeks just the slightest. And yet there was still something
very youthful looking about him, particularly in the laid-back way he talked
and presented himself. “What do you make of that?” He pointed to the painting
she’d left. Rosalind looked back at the pseudo-abstract piece.

“Oh, it’s not
really my favourite type of art, but it reminds me a lot of Jackson Pollack
since it’s so splotchy and scattered, so I guess the person who painted it was
aiming for that.” Daniel seemed taken aback by her remark.

“I’m surprised
such a young person like you can namedrop Jackson Pollack. Consider me
impressed.” He smiled and inched towards her. Rosalind felt the heat rising to
her face again.

“Well, I’m
studying art history at Calhoun University, and I like knowing as much as I can
about what I’m learning. Any artist and artwork and artistic era is interesting
to me, but if I had to pick a favourite artist I’d have to go with Gustav
Klimt.”

“Why is that?”
Daniel’s face lit up as he spoke. “I agree with you, but I’d love to hear your
reasoning.” Rosalind had to think for a moment before answering, not wanting to
say the wrong thing.

“Well, he has
such a unique and vibrant style. He used gold foil a lot in his art, and gold
is my favourite colour, and the way he portrayed women made them all look so
beautiful even though I know that made his works incredibly controversial. But
to me the women and the gold are all just so beautiful that they seem to shine
so brightly.”

“I couldn’t
agree more. He was an interesting, if misunderstood, man. Unfortunately, the
piece I’m guarding tonight isn’t exactly Klimt. More like Klimt on drugs.” He
motioned to the piece of art next to him. She looked over at the strange,
almost disturbing painting. It was a mix of greys and yellows and was filled
with faint lines going every direction. It resembled what Rosalind assumed the
end of the world would look like.

“Wouldn’t that
just be Francis Bacon then?” She asked. A moment passed before Daniel let out a
genuine laugh, and he had to silence himself before his voice carried through
the echo-inducing room.

“You’re smart,
Rosalind! I was going to say it looked more like a rejected Radiohead album
cover since it’s so abstract and vague. But, pardon my French, that was damn smart!”

“You listen to
Radiohead?” She said, her ears perking up.

“Oh, yes.” He
seemed taken aback again. “Saw them in concert a few years ago when Ok Computer came out and, let me tell
you, they were incredible. I’m glad
they dropped that awful grunge sound and started doing more experimental music.
I really hope they stay with it. It’s more my thing.”

“That sounds
wonderful! I wish I could see them perform live.” A twinge of jealousy managed
to escape Rosalind’s lips against her will.

“Yeah, it was
pretty great.” Daniel let out a small smile this time. “Well, Rosalind, I must
say that I’m glad I’ve met someone here that I can talk to like this. Even if I
am just slightly intimidated by the
fact that you’re almost taller than me.” He indicated her height by drawing his
finger from the bottom of her feet to the top of her head with his right hand.

“Oh,
everyone’s usually intimidated by that, and it seems to scare them away from
me,” she said. “But I guess as long as I look like I fit in here, I’m okay.
Even if I am wearing a men’s sized
shirt.” And they laughed and smiled together.

Chapters

263Adder:
Okay so I adore this story. I only knocked one star off plot for historical inaccuracies because I'm a bit of a stickler for that. The ending broke my heart though, considering you already changed history couldn't you (SPOILER) change it a bit more and have them together!!!! I want an alternative...

Prasino45:
Hi! I happen to see your updated chapter on FF.NET!It happened to be about you coming onto Inkitt with this story! I've been a fan for a while! I'm a scqualphie writer myself. I ship them HARD! Love this story! I'm gonna do a reread as you said you changed some things! Glad we both made the switc...

Alex Rushmer:
This was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it a lot Malfoy was always one of the characters that I liked a lot, so I like that a lot of this happens between him and Colette. I read the first couple chapters, and I enjoyed your writing style and am excited to see where you take this story. My com...

Elizabeth Robbins:
4.5 starsAs far as apocalypse stories go, this one took a new direction. I'm glad someone finally addressed the need for a vampire apocalypse! This is sort of a multi-genre festival of delights. With hints of forced societies, vamps, hunters, romance, apocalypse, government conspiracy, and thrill...

Animeviewer:
It is one of the best stories I've ever read. This story will have you riding a roller coaster of emotions and nearly dying to know what happens next.You will get very attached to the characters and in my case I relate well with some of their very traumatic or emotional experiences, Just Juliet f...

Nadine Willard:
I loved this story so much! I generally can't stand super girly romance stories, but this one was so relatable! I could not stop reading this, I read it straight through!! I wish this was a series, not just a single story 😊

Jenn Deering:
This is a go-to story for when you're needing a little happiness in your life. It's well-crafted, and characters are true to their show-selves. The pace is right, there are minimal grammatical errors, and the plot is fresh.

Alex Reltin:
This is a great story! I love how well you go into detail and emotions of Capri, and Mel. You have amazing dialogue and overall it's just a thrill to read!The only critique I could find is that some of the paragraphs should be separated. For example:-"If Nia would have just let me take the car an...

FateFellShort:
I have read this story and have followed the writers on tumblr from the beginning. Its a wonderful story. Beautifully written with a really nice pace, that makes it enjoyable to read more than once. For me, fairy tail has very good characters but what the writers have done is give them more depth...